(Under) The Wire

[My good friend and very patient professional extra, "Pantsless" Pete Smak. Though you can see his back in "The Red-Headed Menace," I don't think he has actual face time, so I thought I'd give him some here!]

Yep, no doubt about it, still hate sound, and credits for that matter, though I am getting better at both of them. I left all of that until today, plus of course I had to burn the thing to a DVD, which takes some time (though burning a short is not nearly so excruciating as burning a feature!). The DVD finished burning at 5:43pm, about the time I jumped out of the shower, was in my car at 6:28pm, got a primo parking space on Thames street in Fells Point, ran into the Waterfront Hotel and handed in "The Red-Headed Menace" to the 29 Days Later Film Project with roughly 16 minutes to spare. You know that's how I roll.

It still, to my eyes and ears, needs some tweaking (which I will do before turning it over to the new Hampden Shorts Film Festival - mark your calendars for Saturday, September 12, especially if you can't make it to the Creative Alliance next Wednesday!), but overall I am pretty pleased with it, and the production values are outstanding, if I do say so myself.

I had forgotten to record some screams that take place, so Jeff Wilhelm and Mark Mosier saved my butt by recording them in an actual studio for me last night and sending me the WAV files. It is SO much better with the screams.

Michelle's all mad at me (in the joking way that we are always mad at each other) because we didn't have time to get together to tweak it and I didn't burn her a copy (mwah ha HA). She is actually IN the movie, and I want her to see it for the first time with an audience. She might be bringing her Mom to the screening, and she is keeping it a secret from her Mom that she is in it, so that should be fun. Michelle did really well, and somehow she was a good sport at the same time she was fighting me tooth and nail, she kept trying to weasel out of her lines and ENTIRE SCENES while we were shooting! Man, she drives me nuts sometimes. She kind of had us save most of her stuff for the end of the shoot (half-hoping I would let her out of it), which was fine with me because by then there would be less people on the set so hopefully she would be a little less nervous, and also because I knew she'd be tired by then and I'd be able to get her to do what I wanted so that I would let her go home. There's one little clip where she is carrying a camera, and two or three times she carried the damn thing right in front of her face while she was saying her lines. "CUT! The camera is in front of your face AGAIN. We're doing this until you get it right, so don't even THINK you are going to wear me down." I won. I always win.

For all her bitchin' she admitted it was a fun shoot and it went very smoothly. I feel that way, too, but if I write another script set in a fancy restaurant, someone please shoot me (and not with a camera) immediately.

I am very excited about the festival on Wednesday, I can't wait to see all the shorts of my competitors! Out of 15 teams we started off with, we ended up with 12 entries, so a 20% wash, which is pretty much what I had guesstimated to Dawn & Dean (the organizers) when we met to consult about the project. I would not have even been surprised at 30%, so 12 films is really fantastic!

This was my first short, and even though we had 29 days to make it, we really pulled it off in 18. I was having writer's block the first 10 days, even though I knew the general outline of the story, but I did not put pen to paper until July 20. Spent the next 5 days in a frenzy of pre-production, really only organizing cast and crew at that point, and there was probably 25-30 hours of work just dressing the set and preparing the meals for cast & crew (almost 50 people!) in advance. My feet were killing me well before I stepped onto the set to stand on them for another 13 hours (on Sunday, July 26).

I made the first pass at the edit that Wednesday, but didn't touch it again until 2 days ago. Then I got the video cut where I wanted it, and sent Jeff and Mark a semi-panicked email about the missing audio. While I was in jury duty (do NOT get me started) on Monday, I brought the file with everyone's signed releases (except Michelle's, refer back to, "Man, she drives me nuts sometimes"), and wrote out an organized list of the credits so (hopefully) I didn't miss anybody. I ALMOST forgot my own Mom, who spent many hours with me Saturday night, prepping the real food, the fake food (which was also real - frozen steaks leftover from our final day of production on "Smalltimore" last August - two of the extras ATE them!!!), and the flower arrangements.

I received the audio bits from Jeff last night, but had spent several hours on my neighbors' porch drinking wine, so I didn't touch them. I learned a long time ago not to edit or even WRITE after more than ONE drink. On the occasions that I have, it is always the same: I believe it is the most perfect thing I have ever created, and then the next morning I read it and ask myself, what the hell is this CRAP?! I HATE wasting my time (at least like that), so I don't do it anymore.

So that left me with today to correct all the audio (no small feat, audio is such a bitch, always), add the new audio and finesse that, and add the credits for the almost - say it with me - FIFTY people who worked on the movie.

I got it done. What I did not get done was a lot of work at my day job or cleaning my apartment or going to the store for dog food that I am out of - all of which needs to get done by 3pm tomorrow, as I am going out of town for the weekend.

But, in true Jeanie Clark Style, I shall further procrastinate and head next door with my laptop to show the movie to my friendly neighborhood Waiters in Tuxedos at the Prime Rib, because most of them (I had SIX in the film!) have to work next Wednesday so they can't come to the screening. I'm sure I'll have a drink or two while I am there also, but that's all right, because I have no problem doing laundry after a few belts. Makes it more bearable, really.